Matthew Clarke | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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Matthew Clarke

Higgins, CCJ and Noah over nine picks. We butchered that bar Noah. That 2017 draft hurts now.

As someone who liked CCJ and thought the club should have done more to keep him, I think we’ll be happy with the early second round pick. Good chance he plays a fair bit of VFL this year on $500,000 a year.
 
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ATM Richmond fans are looking at the thinness of our midfield stocks with sober clarity.

There is no doubt in my mind that the football department, that the entire club noticed during 2021 and that there was a shift in recruiting focus in 2021.

The Matthew Clarke ND period from 2017 to 2020 was fruitless but for Noah Balta. (That was a good fruit.)

For now I want to have another look at pick 17 in the 2017 draft.

I like Higgins for his genius. But the profile he presented at draft time was nothing like a #17 pick. The first time we saw him at an intraclub he was miles behind a slow midget taken in the rookie draft. For athleticism, for decision making, for ball winning and for skill execution. For being a footballer.

To this day Liam Baker is a better footballer. And Liam Baker is facing huge challenges in 2022.

Jack Higgins does not profile as an AFL footballer. (And IMO should never have been recruited by the club.) He does not hit a single criterion - lacks BWA, terrible body/athlete, poor DMBIH save the odd miracle goal, poor execution.

The reason I'm drawing attention to this selection today is that a lot of our recruits in the 2017-20 period profiled poorly.

Most unlike the 2021 draft. The club has noticed and acted. 2021 was a very different year. Good profiles.
What I couldn't work out with the Higgins selection at 17 was, we had just won the premiership with Butler, Rioli, Castagna and Caddy. He was considered to be predominately a small forward, I just didn't see the need.
 
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All well and good Jack but who should have the club taken instead?

You are only as good as the players in the draft.
We were winning preeemierships, SA. And some of the drafts were thin. As for pick 17 that year, help yourself -

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Thanks, finb. I usually have to spreadsheet them into a format just like that from the wikipedia format. You saved me a lot of work.
 
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As someone who liked CCJ and thought the club should have done more to keep him, I think we’ll be happy with the early second round pick. Good chance he plays a fair bit of VFL this year on $500,000 a year.
We got refunds on Higgins and CJ, St Kevin. Good times. But how often will Blair pick up after Clarke?

CJ is one I see as not profiling AFL. At draft time and now.
 
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CJ makes sense when you think about our 2017 rucks. We didn’t expect Soldo to come on so strong. North suck the talent out of all their players
 
We got refunds on Higgins and CJ, St Kevin. Good times. But how often will Blair pick up after Clarke?

CJ is one as see as not profiling AFL. At draft time and now.

You’re correct about the refunds. I’ve defending Clarke a bit as I think sometimes he has been hamstrung by our success but 2017 sticks out badly in hindsight.
 
What I couldn't work out with the Higgins selection at 17 was, we had just won the premiership with Butler, Rioli, Castagna and Caddy. He was considered to be predominately a small forward, I just didn't see the need.

There is always a need for very good footballers, tigerman. Not many would take a pudgy 5'3" can't kick at 17. El Regardless of what position he plays.

Clarke didn't fail because he took a small forward. He failed because he took a zero AFL profile battler.
 
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Now that CJ plays for another team and can't get a kick I think we can all agree that he is a potato.
 
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ATM Richmond fans are looking at the thinness of our midfield stocks with sober clarity.

There is no doubt in my mind that the football department, that the entire club noticed during 2021 and that there was a shift in recruiting focus in 2021.

The Matthew Clarke ND period from 2017 to 2020 was fruitless but for Noah Balta. (That was a good fruit.)

For now I want to have another look at pick 17 in the 2017 draft.

I like Higgins for his genius. But the profile he presented at draft time was nothing like a #17 pick. The first time we saw him at an intraclub he was miles behind a slow midget taken in the rookie draft. For athleticism, for decision making, for ball winning and for skill execution. For being a footballer.

To this day Liam Baker is a better footballer. And Liam Baker is facing huge challenges in 2022.

Jack Higgins does not profile as an AFL footballer. (And IMO should never have been recruited by the club.) He does not hit a single criterion - lacks BWA, terrible body/athlete, poor DMBIH save the odd miracle goal, poor execution.

The reason I'm drawing attention to this selection today is that a lot of our recruits in the 2017-20 period profiled poorly.

Most unlike the 2021 draft. The club has noticed and acted. 2021 was a very different year. Good profiles.
Not sure I can agree with this.
Higgins profiled as the highest ranked footballer in the entire U/18 national ranks. Football I.Q off the charts and was racking up decent numbers for us before his brain injury.
He’s obviously never been quick but does posses very good endurance and after years of running training with guru Bohdan Babachek, has become a very efficient runner.
As mentioned, he lacks a yard of pace, has never seemingly recovered from his serious brain operation and most importantly was the wrong positional player at the time for our list requirements.
But saying he had no footballing profiles would be like declaring that Jade Gresham had less as Higgins was a similar but more decorated junior.
 
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We got refunds on Higgins and CJ, St Kevin. Good times. But how often will Blair pick up after Clarke?

CJ is one I see as not profiling AFL. At draft time and now.
Refunds are fine but it pushes the return down the road.

We need 2017 picks to be top ten players if we are to win flags in 2022.
 
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Hindsight is easy people. 17 a bust? Fruitcake city. We won the flag! by definition the draft was the most difficult for us. Us. We got Balta. In our mitt. He's in the side. Walk up start. That means we won the draft, statistically, objectively. I'll say it again, statistically, objectively.

But thats not all folks, we got Higgins who we got evens for on a trade, and regardless of what you think of him, is still playing seniors. Ditto CCJ.

It ain't the vibe, its data dummy. We remain ahead of the curve.

Ridiculous.
 
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